As then-Barcelona star Lionel Messi was pictured bathing an infant Lamine Yamal in 2007, few would have thought they might one day share the pitch at a World Cup final.
Messi’s Argentina are set to take on Yamal and Spain in Sunday’s showpiece fixture, with arguably the greatest player of all time facing off against the prodigious young talent expected to follow in his footsteps.
In a quite remarkable twist of fate, Messi and Yamal actually first met nearly two decades ago.
The photos, which show a then 20-year-old Messi holding baby Yamal in a blue bathtub in the away dressing room at the Camp Nou, first came to people’s attention in 2024, when Yamal’s dad posted them on social media ahead of the European Championship final between England and Spain.
Euro 2024 announced Yamal to the world. But ahead of his reunion with Messi in New Jersey this weekend, the photos have taken on added significance. How did they come about? And yes, they are very much real.
Yamal’s parents, Mounir Nasraoui and Sheila Ebana, entered their eldest son into a 2007 raffle run by the Catalan newspaper Sport, in conjunction with UNICEF - the children’s charity with whom Barcelona were partnered and whose logo they wore on the front of their shirts.
The winners from the raffle were to be paired with a Barcelona first-team player and have their photo taken alongside them. Deco, Bojan, Rafael Marquez, Xavi and Messi were among the Barca stars involved.
It was by pure chance that Yamal was paired with Messi, who, according to the photographer of the now iconic pictures, Joan Monfort, was very shy when he entered the room for the charity photoshoot.
Yes, those photos you’ve seen are real.
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) July 16, 2026
More than 18 years ago, a baby named Lamine Yamal and his mom Sheila met Lionel Messi at a UNICEF fundraising photoshoot.
Today, their achievements on the pitch inspire millions. Off the pitch, both Messi and Lamine Yamal use their voices… pic.twitter.com/TSoUPDxia2
"I had no idea it was Lamine in the photo until one of my friends called me in 2024 and told me his father had posted it to Instagram," Monfort explained to BBC Sport.
"Messi is a really introverted guy, very timid and shy. He came into the dressing room and suddenly had to take these photos with a little baby - not even a kid, a proper baby and his face changed like he had no idea what to do!
"It is difficult for a young man, but Lamine was a very happy, smiley little baby. His mum Sheila helped us, she was a young girl and they were a very poor family, but they were very nice to work with.
"Messi was always a professional in these kinds of things and he adapted to the situation very quickly."
